LA's Sunset Strip was a sea of tortured souls on Saturday, July 14, as nearly 1,000 fans of Clive Barker and McFarlane Toys lined up outside Meltdown Comics, the city's largest comic book and collectible store, to get their hands on the first available sets of Clive Barker's Tortured Souls action figures, and get them autographed by Clive himself.

When Clive arrived just before the 3 pm signing, he was greeted by die-hard Barker fans, some of whom arrived at the crack of dawn. The throng, which included people from all over the country, stood three deep around the block and down the street at the Sunset Blvd. store nestled between tattoo parlors and music stores.

Clive signed for more than four hours and autographed everything from the figures to movie posters and even a fan's leg. The fan then headed out to a tattoo parlor to have the autograph tattooed on!

"It was an unbelievable event," said Barker, who estimated that he placed his moniker on more than 7,200 items at the event. "I don't think it could have gone better as an introduction to the world for the toys. The response was amazing, the store was cleaned out!"

According to Clive, the most interesting part of the day was the fans' response to the toys, adding that they were "blissed out," a British term for pure pleasure.

"They were just loving the detail, the finish and the perversity of the figures," he said. "I just don't think toys get any better than this."

The main shipment of figures is set to hit stores in early August. But, resourceful fans with deep pockets might try their luck online. One set of autographed Tortured Souls figures was posted on an auction site within hours of the signing for $150.